An Analysis of disputes related to earth retaining structure construction projects in Sri Lanka

Abstract

In last two decades, here the technical and economic circumstances prevailing in the construction industry have changed dramatically to take precedence over the shortcomings of project disputes concerning Earth retaining structures (ERS), such as technical disputes and procurement. Different ERS construction methods are available in the construction industry, recently populated is soil nailing construction, in parallel procurement approaches have arisen with the improvement of most of the construction industry to suit various projects, having their own set of assumptions for each strategy. Here the primary purpose of this research is to study an analysis of disputes related to earth retaining structure construction projects in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, the study discovered that factors initiating conflicts in ERS construction are in numerous forms. So these concern the nature or characteristics of contracts in which contracts or agreements are also ambiguous and unclear, allowing contracting parties to conduct themselves as opportunistic when postal changes are necessary. Factors related to role functions exist when the parties are not performing according to expectations. This study shows that some project participants ' contractual failure and subsequent post - contract adjustments as well as unscrupulous behavior are the root causes of soil nailing projects. The study also found that, adequate mechanism for dealing with disputes in the standard contractual forms appeared in design and construction (D&B) and traditional procurement arrangements and where the provisions contradict the specific interests of the parties, the major party chose the friendly and amicable approaches to the resolution. Design and Build (D&B) procurement arrangements are better at resolving disputes, the availability of methodologies for dispute management in standard forms of contracts, the research study recommends as a strategy the framework that can decrease the conflicts occurrence in soil nailing projects.